Fight for the 31st STREET BUS + CTA Board Meeting

It's been a year since we won a feasibility study - the first step toward getting a bus to connect our communities, and give us access to food, hospitals, beaches, family, and so on. The recommendations to the CTA board as a result of the study are due at the OCTOBER 9th board meeting. This is big! People are important! Show the CTA we care and we mean it and we won't stop the fight!

 How you can help: 

Get on the bus - We will be gathering at Benton House (3052 S Gratten Ave) at 8:45 AM on the morning of the October 9th to take a bus to the CTA Headquarters. The bus leaves at 9:00. We will pack the CTA board room, and hold a press conference after the meeting. Then the bus will return to Benton House. Facebook Event Page Here 

Come to the meeting - If you don't want to join us on the bus you can still attend the meeting. Arrive at CTA Headquarters, 567 W. Lake Street, by 10 AM on the morning of October 9. Facebook Event Page Here 

Write a letter - Please see our blog post below for a sample to send to friends, family, elected officials and any other contacts you can think of!

Make signs - we will be gathering at First Trinity (31st and Lowe) on Tuesday, October 8, 6:30 - 8:00 ish to make signs and do something cool with the photo petitions. BYOS (Bring Your Own Scissors!)

Distribute Fliers - Fliers are attached. Please, print, post, share!  Contact info@bridgeportalliance.org for a pdf copy.

Social Media - Share the Facebook Event Page, use the Twitter Handle @31stStreetBus and @BridgeportAlly and Hashtag #31stStreetBus. Tell your friends!!!

 Questions? info@bridgeportalliance.org

Bike and Roll the 31st Street Bus

Click here to see more photos!

 

CTA Board Meeting

Back in August Tom Gaulke (BA Chair) declared on this very blog, "in case you haven't heard, we're winning."  At that time it sincerely felt like we were winning.  The CTA board had extended the 35th street bus to include the west end of 31st and promised a study of the east end of 31st.  Members of BA met with CTA board president Forrest Claypool with Alderman Balcer.  They also met monthly with the folks who do the planning and studies on bus routes.  So far... nothing has happened.

We need to make sure that the CTA board knows that we are still here and we still want this bus.  Will you come with us on March 13 to remind them?

At the next board meeting of the Chicago Transit Authority, the board will be discussing the future of bus transit along 31st St.

We need to show up in numbers so that they know that our communities need a 31st St. Bus!

We'll meet at the corner of Halsted and 31st St. at 9:00am and take the Halsted Bus to the CTA Headquarters.  Or, if you are downtown, just meet us there.  If you can't make it, but know others who want the bus, share this information with them, please. 

You can RSVP on facebook here or email info@bridgeportalliance.org. 

SOUL - Martin Luther King Day 2013

Sunday, January 13, 2013
2:30pm - 4:30pm
 3566 S. Cottage Grove.
West Point Missionary Baptist Church

This is the time each year when we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King and continue his work through community organizing. Some of the issues we will address include funding for an arts & recreation center in Bronzeville, restoring bus service on 31st Street, closing state corporate tax loopholes so we can avoid massive budget cuts to Medicaid and education, and addressing the vacant property epidemic through a land bank that will create both affordable housing and jobs.

We will be asking elected officials to make commitments on issues affecting our communities. We need to show our elected officials that their constituents are watching and that people care about these issues.

Please come out and bring your friends, neighbors, and fellow congregants!

Musical celebration and sign-in will take place from 2:30 - 3:00, with the public meeting starting promptly at 3:00.

Bridgeport Alliance will have two buses leaving Benton House. Boarding at 2PM. Refreshments will be served starting at 1PM. Rides will be given to Benton House from First Trinity Lutheran after 10:30AM worship. We will have 100 folks from Bridgeport, so get there early if you don't want just scraps.

31st street update - one more win on our route

Good news, dear people:

Mr. Claypool (CTA President) replied "Yes." to our ask tonight.

And he promised he meant it, right in front of the altar at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity here on 31st St. in Bridgeport :)

The Bridgeport Alliance, the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community, and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization were all present.

We will be meeting with the director of the CTA's 6 month study re: the FULL 31st Street route, monthly.

Alderman James Balcer showed again to support BA.

One more battle won on our way to victory!

Good job, team.